


Take a deep breath

by light_daydream



Series: A tiny push is all we need [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Awkwardness, First Dates, M/M, jeno is mostly responsible for that tag lol, more tags to be added i guess, this is also going to be chaptered bc i cant write an oneshot to save my life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-29 22:10:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18302861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/light_daydream/pseuds/light_daydream
Summary: Following Donghyuck's tarot reading, Jaemin and Renjun decide it's time to finally go after what (and who) they want. Jeno is having a hard time believing his life was, for once, about to take a turn for the better.





	Take a deep breath

**Author's Note:**

> I'm pretty sure this could also be read on its own if ure thirsty for some norenmin lol
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this~

A small trickle of students accompanied Jeno through the school’s hallways. The lunch period hadn’t finished yet, but that day’s Biology lesson had spoiled his appetite. Jeno was pretty sure he’d see all those frog insides reflected on his eyelids for many days to follow.

The only advantage to heading to his class way too early, was that Jeno would finally get the window seat. The _good _window seat, not the one that had the view cut off by the building across from the street. The window seat he always competed against Chanhee for. Chanhee’s record of four consecutive days was about to be broken, and with that thought in mind, Jeno’s spirits were lifted.__

__*-*-*-*-*_ _

__“I can’t believe that brat’s nerve. I paid actual money for that milkshake“, Renjun was mumbling, to nobody in particular. The boy had been furious ever since he got his drink stolen and thrown in the trash, his annoyed energy carried into his mad stomping through the hallway and towards their History class._ _

__Jaemin was the exact opposite of Renjun, walking calmly next to his boyfriend, absentminded, but still paying enough attention in order to keep up with Renjun’s pace._ _

__Reaching out his hand, Jaemin grabbed Renjun by the elbow, managing to slow him down before they reached their class room. If he didn’t share his thoughts, he was positive he’d soon combust. “Do you think Hyuck is right?”, the pink-haired boy asked, bursting the sudden silence’s bubble._ _

__Renjun gave him a confused look, eyebrows furrowing, as his brain tried to catch up with the change of the subject._ _

__“About us being more obvious with our feelings to Jeno”, Jaemin clarified, seeing his boyfriend’s frown._ _

__“Between your flirtatious ass, and my heart eyes, I think we’re plenty obvious,” Renjun started, and Jaemin huffed a small laugh. “But I think we could use some work on being more straightforward about it”, he continued solemnly, meeting Jaemin’s eyes with a tiny, hopeful smile._ _

__Jaemin nodded, returning the smile with one of his own. Then, he grabbed the smaller boy’s hand in his own, squeezed it once, and lead the way through the classroom’s entrance._ _

__*-*-*-*-*_ _

__Chanhee’s dumbstruck face was worth all the frog intestines Jeno had to suffer through that day. At least, he hoped that the image of his classmate’s confused look would take turns to appear behind his closed eyes, as well._ _

__Jeno smiled at the memory, replaying the scene when the other boy had come through the door, stopped in his tracks when he realized the seat was already taken, and then rerouted his way to the back of the room. He hadn’t said a word._ _

__That had happened five minutes ago, more or less, and Jeno had gone back to his doodling ever since. Every couple moments, another classmate would come into the room, quietly taking their seats, and Jeno’s little rabbit was coming along well._ _

__He was in the process of giving it a small bow tie, when the white noise of his brain was cut through by a couple of voices lowly chatting between them. Jeno would usually pay them no mind, except he had a particular interest in those particular voices._ _

__Jeno slowly raised his gaze from his paper, turning his head to the direction of the door. Renjun and Jaemin were holding hands, and Jeno’s face immediately went up in flames. His heart started beating double its’ normal speed, and when Jaemin sent him a soft smile, Jeno knew, in that moment, he was most likely resembling a ripe tomato._ _

__Jaemin whispered something in Renjun’s ear, and Renjun nodded back as a reply. Next thing Jeno noticed, the two boys had started walking towards him. His flight-or-fight mode got switched on, but with the professor stepping inside the class right then, Jeno’s only option was turning his eyes back to his sketch. He darted his tongue out, wetting his lips, and tried his best to ignore the waft of air that hit his side as Jaemin and Renjun passed him by, and respectively took a seat on the desk behind him, and the desk across from it._ _

__“I’m glad you managed to get the window seat this time”, he heard Jaemin’s honey voice whisper to his back. The hair on the nape of his neck stood to attention, and Jeno suppressed a shiver. “The sun makes your skin glow”, the disembodied voice continued, and Jeno choked down an embarrassed whimper. He didn’t dare move his head, even though his neck was starting to sort of cramp._ _

__Jeno’s salvation came in the form of the History lesson officially starting. Their professor soon adopted his trademark far-off tone, as he went over a brief summary of the French Revolution, which was a sign that he stopped paying any mind to his environment. He tried taking some notes, in need of something to do other than overthink and overheat. Even if Jaemin hadn’t said anything else to him, his presence alone, so close by, sent sparks all across Jeno’s skin._ _

__The lesson came to an end uneventfully, but Jeno had barely managed to calm his heartbeat down._ _

__*-*-*-*-*_ _

__Jaemin had tried to follow Jeno’s lead and take notes, but he gave up about halfway through, when the professor’s rambling took a way too philosophical turn for Jaemin to follow. Instead, he scratched a message on a piece of paper, ripped the page off his notebook, and stretched to leave it on Renjun’s desk._ _

__Renjun was comically startled out of his daydream by the paper touching his hand, turning his head to see who was responsible for his scare._ _

__Jaemin wanted to coo at the cute expression on his boyfriend’s face, but there’d be a time and place for that later. He kept his eyes on the older boy, as Renjun unfolded the paper and read the messily written script. Jaemin knew it was just a big ‘WHAT DO WE DO’, encircled by question marks._ _

__Renjun kept looking at the piece of paper for a long time, before finally resting it down on his desk and penning his reply. He folded it back up, and passed it back to Jaemin’s waiting hand._ _

__An ‘ _I don’t know _’ was written below his own message, a frowning puppy face quickly drawn to the side, and Jaemin pouted, resembling the drawing. A second piece of paper landing on his open palms surprised him.___ _

____‘ _Should we ask him to hang out after school? _’, was the message on it. His eyes lit up, sending a thumbs-up to his boyfriend, which in turn made Renjun crack a fond smile as well.___ _ _ _

______‘ _We should definitely ask him out~ I think it’s time _’, he scribbled his reply and send it back to Renjun.___ _ _ _ _ _

________Immediately after reading the note, Renjun signaled him an X with his hands, sending the paper back to Jaemin, this time without a new reply, just the words ‘hang out’ circled multiple times and underscored._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Jaemin made a show of rolling his eyes and sighing as a response, Renjun chuckling lightly at his theatrics. They both knew it’d be for the best if they took things slowly, though. Sure, Jaemin and Jeno were childhood friends, even if they didn’t hang out much on their own anymore, and Renjun was on friendly speaking terms with Jeno ever since he arrived in their school two years ago, but they had quite a few stages to check off first before they, hopefully, started dating._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He ripped a fresh page off his notebook, and tried to make his penmanship legible, before also sending the paper flying onto Renjun’s desk. The older boy grinned as he approved of the message, and put his drawing skills at work again, sketching little doodles all around the sidelines. Jaemin couldn’t make out what the drawings were, but he was sure they were adorable._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The bell signaling the end of the school day startled him. He quickly shoved his things inside his backpack, noting Renjun taking a slower approach to the matter, before standing up and exiting the classroom on his own._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He stood next to the school’s gate, nodding his head and saying goodbye to the classmates and friends passing him by on their way out. When Renjun’s head showed up, he straightened his back, and took a few steps to meet his boyfriend half-way._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“How did it go?”, he asked, his eyes twinkling with excitement, “Did he say anything?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________At that, Renjun raised his hands to his head, and grabbed a fistful of hair in each hand. “I don’t know”, he whined pitifully. “We were the only ones left inside, and I started thinking about all the ways our plan could go wrong, and then I panicked so I just sort of left the note on his desk and walked out without a backwards glance”, he rushed out in one breath._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Jaemin was left staring at him, taken aback, before cooing at his boyfriend, and moving closer in order to swallow him up in a bear hug. “It’s alright, babe, don’t worry about it”, he murmured gently._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Renjun mumbled something unintelligible against his sweater, and Jaemin loosened his arms a little so the older boy could repeat it. “Let’s go before Jeno comes out and sees me”, he pouted._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“You realize we just asked him out on a date, right?”, Jaemin teased him good-naturedly, moving his arm to Renjun’s shoulders and stirring his boyfriend towards the school’s exit._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“It’s a hang out”, Renjun corrected, wrapping his own arm around Jaemin’s waist._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Alright, alright”, Jaemin placated, “Let’s go grab a booth now.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Renjun hummed, and snuggled closer to his boyfriend’s warmth. His mind was already filling up with all the ice cream flavors Jaehyun hyung offered in his shop._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________*-*-*-*-*_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Jeno was the only person down any hallway he walked along on his way towards the gates. His body was working on auto-pilot, his feet finding the correct path on their own, as his mind was kept otherwise busy, dazedly going over the same scene again and again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He’d been ready to leave his seat, one of the last people left inside the room, when a paper had landed on top of his desk. Confused, he’d turned his eyes up to see who left the mysterious note, only to be met with Renjun’s retreating back._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The older boy hadn’t turned around to meet his gaze, hurriedly walking away, and Jeno had half a mind to think of it as a prank, while the other half of his brain was freaking out._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________And as he was stepping outside of the school grounds, he was still freaking out._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The paper note Renjun had left for him, was filled with small doodles of flowers and little woodland animals. Jeno found it adorable, but then he finally read the penned message in the middle of the page, and his face promptly got flushed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________‘ _Hang out with us at Jae hyung’s café after school? _’___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________He reached the café in less than five minutes. He was slightly out of breath, but he didn’t care, as he pushed the door open and the familiar jingle of the bell sounded over his head. There was nobody manning the counter, and the shop was almost empty. A woman was drinking her tea in a corner table, while browsing through her phone. A group of middle-schoolers had taken their seats in the centre of the sit-down area, eating ice cream out of a single huge bowl filled with probably every flavor the shop carried and then some._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________On the very back of the shop, sat next to each other in a booth, were Renjun and Jaemin. The familiar environment had been a balm to Jeno’s nerves, but they soon came back when he met the boys’ stares._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jaemin smiled wide and waved a hand to catch his attention. Not that he needed to go to such an extent in order to get his attention, Jeno thought. Both of them just sitting there was distracting enough._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________He took a deep breath, and started moving towards the back. Jeno dropped his backpack on the booth seat, before sitting next to it, across the other two._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You came”, Jaemin noted, voice awed, and smiling widely. “I’m glad.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Through the palpable awkwardness, Jaemin’s smile didn’t falter once. Jeno’s cheeks warmed, and he moved his eyes from Jaemin, to Renjun, not knowing what else to do in order to break the ice. Renjun shyly met his eyes through his eyelashes, and Jeno couldn’t recall another moment where the older boy had acted as shy in the two years he’d known him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Renjun had always been more subdued compared to Jaemin. Jaemin was all wide smiles, and hearty laughs, and bear hugs, and cheesy pick-up lines, whereas Renjun balanced him out, with a calmer persona, biting wit, subtler gestures, and fond eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The day Jeno found out Jaemin and Renjun got together would stay with him forever. He’d realized his crush on his friend years ago, never saying anything in fear of breaking their friendship apart, and when the new student joined their year, Jeno felt optimistic, that maybe he’d finally be able to get over Jaemin, and finally be able to enjoy their friendship without any guilt about lying to his friend._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________It hadn’t gone exactly as planned, of course. One year in, and with his crushes to both boys still going strong, Jisung let it be known during basketball practice that Renjun and Jaemin had decided to start dating. His mood had soured, body feeling cold, and their coach had been forced to let him off early._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________A couple nights spent crying his eyes out into his pillow helped him come to terms with the situation, and after a while he could finally look them in the eye again without feeling the need to burst into tears._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________What Jeno found odd, though, was the looks Renjun started sending his way, around the beginning of his and Jaemin’s relationship. At first, Jeno thought he’d been obvious with his crush on Jaemin, and Renjun was just playing the role of the overprotective boyfriend. Not interested in creating drama, Jeno had slowly distanced himself, taking after school classes and joining clubs in order to keep his schedule busy. He’d even gotten a job at this very café they were now sitting in, and it’d been a great excuse to get out of hangouts, until the invites started thinning out. It’d turned so bad, that he didn’t need all the extra classes and clubs in order to fend off his friends’ questions after a while. He’d only kept his job, since he’d already gotten used to the employees’ discounts and bonuses._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Renjun kept looking at him, then Jaemin joined in, and they slowly started waving at him, making small talk, acting friendly towards him, and if Jeno had let it go to his head, he’d have thought they were showing more than just friendly interest in him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________They looked so happy and content to be with each other, though, their behavior towards Jeno only helped to make him feel self-conscious and awkward around them. About two years had passed, and Jeno was still stuck in that awkward phase. But today had been a massive game changer. Jeno subconsciously believed it’d all end up being a dream._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jeno suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him back to reality. He turned his gaze back to the two boys, realizing he’d been spacing out all this time, eyes fixed on the table top._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Do you want to get some ice cream?”, Jaemin asked softly. “I’ll go get them.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________For a few moments, Jeno could only stare dumbly at the boy. His brain was working overtime, trying to make sense of everything. “Fluffy Praline is fine”, he mumbled finally._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jaemin hummed. “A smart man”, he remarked, and Jeno’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Chocolate is superior, everyone knows that”, Jaemin explained, “Except Injunnie here”, he added with a teasing jab at Renjun’s side._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The cute scene playing in front of him, made him relax a bit, as weird as it sounded. The two boys being all couple-y with each other was normal, something he had gotten used to seeing as an outsider to their relationship. Fake it till you make it, he thought, and he let a small smile come on his face._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Chocolate Heaven has chocolate in it”, Renjun argued, rolling his eyes at Jaemin._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jaemin gave a slight pout back to him, “Chocolate Heaven is just vanilla with chocolate bits, Jun”, he sighed, sounding fondly exasperated, as if they'd had this conversation before. The pink-haired boy then slid off his seat and walked up to the corner the ice cream freezer was standing._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Nobody had showed up during the time they’d spent in the shop, and Jeno was starting to worryingly look around for any sign of something having gone bad._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Thankfully, Jeno could suddenly make out Jaehyun’s voice coming out from inside the stock room, getting progressively higher, as he moved closer to the door. Soon after, another voice joined him, sounding a lot like Taeyong hyung. They seemed to be arguing about something Jeno couldn’t make out, which was weird on its’ own – Jaehyun hyung and Taeyong hyung never argued, at least not in public. When a third voice was heard, a voice way more familiar, Jeno’s blood froze._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________He didn’t have time to assess the situation deeper, before the stock room’s door was flying open and a furious Taeyong hyung was walking out in long strides. Jaehyun hyung followed after him, in a more put-together manner, and Jeno’s brother was the last to exit the stock room, gaze fixed on Taeyong hyung’s back._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You two sound like children”, Jaehyun hissed over his shoulder, as he moved behind the freezer. “Get out of my shop, and only come back once you’ve calmly talked things out”._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jaemin was standing stock-still, seemingly not knowing what to do in the tight spot he found himself in._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jeno’s two other hyungs stormed out of the store, one after the other, leaving Jeno’s sight as soon as they appeared in it. His brother’s shift had ended an hour ago, and usually he’d already be lazying around in the living room by the time Jeno came back home from school._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Renjun must have noticed his anxious expression, because he laid a warm hand on top of Jeno’s cold ones. “I’m sure it’s nothing serious, they’re always fighting like Tom and Jerry”, he spoke gently, adding a reassuring smile at the end._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________And Jeno knew that was true. Anyone who frequented the café knew that. But he still worried, because it was the first time it’d gotten so bad that Jaehyun hyung had had to ask his fiancé to leave the shop in order to calm down and reconcile with Doyoung hyung._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jeno tried to keep the event out of his mind, as Jaemin’s footsteps were nearing their booth. He gave a small smile to Renjun in thanks, before sitting up to help Jaemin unload the three paper cups of ice cream on the table. As Jeno took his own cup in his hand, and was about to dig in, Jaemin piped in, “I actually thought we’d move to a different location”._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Huh? I thought we were just going to hang out here”, Jeno didn’t try to conceal his confusion, brows furrowing._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Their fight started before you arrived”, Renjun explained, “So we thought we could grab our ice cream and go to the park or something. Some place quieter, be able to have a peaceful talk without meddling hyungs to worry about”, he chuckled, flustered._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Oh”, Jeno said, eloquent as ever. They were both being so thoughtful and nice, and Jeno had no manners. “That’d be nice”, he added, before he could change his mind. His trademark eye smile wasn’t hard to bring to the surface - just thinking about the cute boys standing in front of him filled his stomach with butterflies._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Jaemin grinned down at them, first looking at Jeno, then at Renjun, and finally resting his eyes on Jeno’s own. “Yeah, it’ll be nice”, he murmured, shiny smile in place._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Renjun stood off his seat then, and Jeno rushed to grab his things and join them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> 19-4-19: Edited to hell and back~ I'd felt iffy about the original chapter from the start but I was too excited so I ended up posting it and thinking I'd come back to it one day and fix it up. Well~ that day has come! I hope any past readers who come back and any possible new readers will enjoy this~ <3
> 
> PS. Title taken from Ateez' Light~ (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
> 
> I'm sticking to the theme lmao


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